Editor’s note: The Star is highlighting the best players, biggest questions and most interesting facts about the Arizona Wildcats, who open their season Nov. 7 at Utah.
During spring drills, Arizona offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone jokingly called the Wildcats’ new defensive coaching staff the “gray-haired mafia.”
After all, new defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads is 53 years old. Outside linebackers coach Andy Buh is 47, as is defensive backs coach Greg Burns. And Stan Eggen, the Wildcats’ defensive line coach, is 67.
The group is tasked with turning around a UA defense that finished last in the Pac-12 in points allowed per game, yards allowed per game and sacks last season. The poor performance led to the midseason firing of defensive coordinator Marcel Yates and linebackers coach John Rushing and the Week 12 canning of defensive line coach Iona Uiagalelei. Running backs coach and former NFL star DeMarco Murray left for Oklahoma in January. In March, cornerbacks coach Demetrice Martin left the program to join Karl Dorrell’s staff at Colorado.
Arizona’s staff has a lot of new faces heading into the Nov. 7 opener at Utah. Here’s a fun fact about each new coach:
Paul Rhoads, defensive coordinator
Fun fact: Arguably the most memorable moment from Rhoads’ 30-year coaching career came in 2009, when — in his first season as head coach at Iowa State — the Cyclones upset Nebraska 9-7.
Rhoads’ postgame speech went viral: Holding back tears, he said, “I am so proud to be your football coach!” ESPN included the clip of Rhoads’ emotional moment in its “College Football Images of the Decade” video.
Former UA assistant Andy Buh is now at Illinois.
Andy Buh, outside linebackers coach
Fun fact: Buh (pronounced “boo”) is coaching his third Pac-12 team. His other two stops were at Stanford (2007-09) and Cal (2013). At Stanford, Buh mentored Pro Bowl cornerback Richard Sherman.
Greg Burns, defensive backs coach
Fun fact: Burns has coached a number of NFL DBs, whether it was in the league or the collegiate level. When Burns was the defensive backs coach at USC, he produced Hall of Fame safety Troy Polamalu. In the NFL, Burns coached All-Pro cornerback Ronde Barber in Tampa Bay. Burns’ memories of Arizona Stadium are not all good ones: He was Cal’s defensive backs coach in 2014, when Arizona beat the Golden Bears on a Hail Mary pass from Anu Solomon to Austin Hill.
Stan Eggen, defensive line coach
Fun fact: The most experienced coach on Arizona’s staff has coached on college staffs for 40 consecutive seasons. Eggen started at North Dakota in 1979 — UA coach Kevin Sumlin was 15 years old — before taking jobs at Southeast Missouri State, Memphis, Drake, Utah State, UNLV, Nevada, UNLV (again), New Mexico, TCU, Alabama, Texas A&M, Louisiana Tech, Iowa State and New Mexico (again). While at A&M, Eggen coached future NFL superstars Von Miller and Michael Bennett.
A.J. Steward, running backs coach
A.J. Steward gets Lorenzo Burns in position while running punt return drills during training camp earlier this month. Steward replaced DeMarco Murray as the UA’s running backs coach.
Fun fact: Steward, age 31 and the youngest of Arizona’s new coaching bunch, never actually played running back during his playing career.
Steward was recruited to Kansas to play quarterback but switched to wide receiver and then tight end while with the Jayhawks. He was in college the last time Kansas qualified for a bowl game (2008).
